In the new edition of their glossy Dabiq ISIS isso friendly to explain us again why they hate us. I know, we’re not really interested in what ISIS tells us because we already have our own narrative: It’s basically our own fault: colonialism, discrimination, the whole foreign policy of the USA. Dude, Bush, he was such a badass. In comparison with him, Bin Laden and Al-Baghdadi are saints. So yeah, that bit of terrorism that happens to us now is the backlash we could expect, we kind of deserve it. The nice thing about this narrative is that if it’s our own fault, we should also be able to fix it. A hopeful thought. And I don’t want to ruin your day, but maybe – just maybe – we should question that thought..

The articles starts with stating that the Western narrative on jihadism, as outlined above, is wrong: ‘it is nothing more than a political act and a propaganda tool. The politicians will say it regardless of how much it stands in opposition to facts and common sense just to garner as many votes as they can for the next election cycle. The analysts and journalists will say it in order to keep themselves from becoming a target for saying something that the masses deem to be “politically incorrect.” The apostate “imams” in the West will adhere to the same tired cliché in order to avoid a backlash from the disbelieving societies in which they’ve chosen to reside. The point is, people know that it’s foolish, but they keep repeating it regardless because they’re afraid of the consequences of deviating from the script.’

To fight this false narrative ISIS gives us 6 reasons why they hate us and why they fight us in order of importance:

We hate you, first and foremost, because you are disbelievers..

We hate you because your secular, liberal societies permit the very things that Allah has prohibited..

We hate you and wage war against you because you disbelieve in the existence of your Lord and Creator..

We hate you for your crimes against Islam and wage war against you to punish you for your transgressions against our religion..

We hate you for your crimes against the Muslims..

We hate you for invading our lands and fight you to repel you and drive you out..

So yeah, foreign policy plays a role, but they point out very clearly that this role is secondary. They will never stop hating us, not even if we submit: ‘What’s important to understand here is that although some might argue that your foreign policies are the extent of what drives our hatred, this particular reason for hating you is secondary, hence the reason we addressed it at the end of the above list. The fact is, even if you were to stop bombing us, imprisoning us, torturing us, vilifying us, and usurping our lands, we would continue to hate you because our primary reason for hating you will not cease to exist until you embrace Islam. Even if you were to pay jizyah and live under the authority of Islam in humiliation, we would continue to hate you. No doubt, we would stop fighting you then as we would stop fighting any disbelievers who enter into a covenant with us, but we would not stop hating you.’

Sweet fellas as they are, they also point out that they terrorize us for our own good: ‘What’s equally if not more important to understand is that we fight you, not simply to punish and deter you, but to bring you true freedom in this life and salvation in the Hereafter, freedom from being enslaved to your whims and desires as well as those of your clergy and legislatures, and salvation by worshiping your Creator alone and following His messenger.’

But that would be a bit too nice to end with, so they make it very clear one more time: the only option we have is ‘soumission’.

‘So you can continue to believe that those “despicable terrorists” hate you because of your lattes and your Timberlands, and continue spending ridiculous amounts of money to try to prevail in an unwinnable war, or you can accept reality and recognize that we will never stop hating you until you embrace Islam, and will never stop fighting you until you’re ready to leave the swamp of warfare and terrorism through the exits we provide, the very exits put forth by our Lord for the People of the Scripture: Islam, jizyah, or – as a last means of fleeting respite – a temporary truce.’